‘LT making efforts to carry out attacks within India’

By Iftikhar Gilani

NEW DELHI: Much to the chagrin of Pakistan, which has been demanding intelligence sharing, India on Tuesday alleged that the banned Lashkar-e-Tayyaba (LT) was making concerted efforts to carry out attacks within India and was developing links in Maldives and other neighbouring countries.

To a question, the Indian government told parliament that Sikh militant groups, especially those based abroad, were trying to revive militancy in Indian Punjab.

Pakistan Foreign Office spokesman Abdul Basit recently took exception to such statements, asking India to share the basis of such claims with Islamabad.

“When the Indian PM or the home minister says so, they must be saying it on the basis of some information. Share that with us, so that we can pre-empt. Our request is to share any information, intelligence about it to enable us to take action,” he told a visiting Indian media delegation.

In the Lok Sabha on Tuesday, Minister of State for Home Affairs Ajay Maken said the government had intelligence to conclude that LT was planning to target Indian installations.

“Available inputs indicate that Pakistan-based terrorist groups, primarily the Lashkar-e-Tayyaba (LT), are making concerted efforts to organise terrorist attacks in various parts of the country, inter alia, including iconic institutions, prominent industrial installations and tourist locations among others,” he said.